Everything we take in through our senses enters through filters. The point of a filter is that it allows some things to go through and keeps some things from going through.
We filter many things in our lives A good example of this is hearing your name being said in a crowded noisy room. Your mind is filtering out all of the unnecesecary noise but when you hear your name your brain immediately picks it up.
The filters in our lives come from various origins. What are the filters that we use to interpret what is going on around us?
Worldview
Traumatic experiences
Significant Events
Desires
Interests
Passions
Survival
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Thursday, November 14, 2013
The "SNATCH" Factor!
The conversation goes like this:
Sally sure got her back up quick. All I had said was "I am worried about that Dan. By the decisions that he is making, it does not seem that he is taking his relationship with God seriously. I am worried about him."
Sally replied, "Oh? What is going on?"
"Well," I replied, "He just left his wife and has moved out of the house."
"That doesn't sound good. Though to tell you the truth, they weren't that compatible anyway."
"That may be, but he made a commitment before God to be committed to her and he seems to be throwing that out the window. It is almost like he does not understand how Holy God is and how he needs to be striving for holiness. I wonder sometimes if he understands any of the biblical teaching he has had all these years."
"It's not that serious is it? I mean it's not like he is not a Christian."
"His actions are sure making me wonder..."
"Seriously?" She exclaimed " Who are you to say if a person is going to heaven or not? What makes you so important that you can say that?! Isn't there a verse in the Bible that says the devil can not snatch us out of His hand?"
So now what do you say to that?
My first response usually happens in my head because I don't like confrontation. But if I had an answer, what would it be?
John 10:22-30
22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me,[a] is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
When I look at this I see a theme that jumps out at me. It seems evident that there is a difference between a person who follows and a person who does not follow. Verse 27 is the key verse for understanding verse 28. Some questions come to mind.
Sally sure got her back up quick. All I had said was "I am worried about that Dan. By the decisions that he is making, it does not seem that he is taking his relationship with God seriously. I am worried about him."
Sally replied, "Oh? What is going on?"
"Well," I replied, "He just left his wife and has moved out of the house."
"That doesn't sound good. Though to tell you the truth, they weren't that compatible anyway."
"That may be, but he made a commitment before God to be committed to her and he seems to be throwing that out the window. It is almost like he does not understand how Holy God is and how he needs to be striving for holiness. I wonder sometimes if he understands any of the biblical teaching he has had all these years."
"It's not that serious is it? I mean it's not like he is not a Christian."
"His actions are sure making me wonder..."
"Seriously?" She exclaimed " Who are you to say if a person is going to heaven or not? What makes you so important that you can say that?! Isn't there a verse in the Bible that says the devil can not snatch us out of His hand?"
So now what do you say to that?
My first response usually happens in my head because I don't like confrontation. But if I had an answer, what would it be?
- Never read a verse. As in only one verse. What is the context?
- What about my heart? Am I willing to let God decide what the verse means or are my idols and desires getting in the way?
John 10:22-30
22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me,[a] is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
When I look at this I see a theme that jumps out at me. It seems evident that there is a difference between a person who follows and a person who does not follow. Verse 27 is the key verse for understanding verse 28. Some questions come to mind.
- What does "hear my voice" mean?
- What does it mean for Jesus to "know" them?
- What does "follow" look like?
- Which comes first, following or believing?
- What about Judas? From what I can see, he was snatched. Hmmm......
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Searching for the Value of Prayer.
Luke 18:1 (NIV)
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.'“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
This was in interesting parable. The last question seems to indicate that faith and prayer are somehow tied together. Is prayer an indicator of faith?
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.'“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
This was in interesting parable. The last question seems to indicate that faith and prayer are somehow tied together. Is prayer an indicator of faith?
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Now to the problems!
Problem: I am not praying regularly
Why? I just decide to do something else.
Why? I just don't feel like it.
Why? It is not that important.
Why? I do not see the value in it.
Problem restated: I don't place enough value in prayer to want to spend time doing it.
Solution: Come to an understanding that praying has enough value to compel me to spend more time in prayer with Him.
Steps:
Why? I just decide to do something else.
Why? I just don't feel like it.
Why? It is not that important.
Why? I do not see the value in it.
Problem restated: I don't place enough value in prayer to want to spend time doing it.
Solution: Come to an understanding that praying has enough value to compel me to spend more time in prayer with Him.
Steps:
- Ask God for a changed heart through the process.
- Find out why other people value prayer.
- Read the Bible to find out if prayer is something to be valued.
- Decide if prayer has value enough to spend more time in prayer with Him.
Monday, November 11, 2013
How do I get from HERE to THERE?
When I want to move from where I am (the problem) to where I should be (the solution), I need to decide what the specific steps (goals) will be along the way.
Once I have identified those steps I need to set specific goals to reach those steps. I prefer to use the SMART Goal method of setting goals.
What is a SMART Goal you ask?
Once I have identified those steps I need to set specific goals to reach those steps. I prefer to use the SMART Goal method of setting goals.
What is a SMART Goal you ask?
What is THE SOLUTION?
A solution to a problem may not be obvious at first until you have moved in the direction of it. "How", you ask, "can I move towards a solution if I don't know what it is?" Remember that you are not only moving towards a solution, you moving away from a problem. If you have identified the problem, the initial steps away from a problem will help you to soon realize the solution. In that sense you don't need to have a solution to begin to move in the direction of solving a problem.
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What is THE PROBLEM?
It is important to first identify the problem before we can identify a solution and then figure out how to accomplish that solution. All problems are not created equally. They fall within the simple to complex spectrum. The more complex a problem is, the more steps or goals will be required to reach the solution.
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While many times a problem is quite obvious to the naked eye, if the problem falls in the complex end of the spectrum it may not seem so obvious. I will use the "5 Why's" Method of finding the root problem. This method is fairly simple. State the obvious problem and then ask yourself "Why" 5 times. This will get you to the root problem.
Where does your problem fall in the spectrum?
What do I mean when I say.....
Before I formulate a plan though, I need to clarify some terms so that I stay clear on what I am doing.
Problem:
A situation, matter, or person that presents perplexity or difficulty.
A picture of how it is.
Solution:
The answer to a problem.
A picture of how it should be.
Goal:
A statement identifying how you will reach the solution to a problem.
How are you going to get from how it is, to how it should be?
Time for a Restart!
It seems sometimes that my life is one restart after another. The cycle typically lasts about 2 weeks for the things that affect me on a daily basis and maybe months for the longer term situations that come up. Lately our church has been going through changes that will require our Elder Team to seek God's guidance in creating some Strategic Objectives on a yearly basis. These objectives will be used later to evaluate ourselves on how we are doing in regards to the plan God has for us.
I thought it would be a good time to perhaps do the same with myself and so here I am.
I have determined some areas of improvement required in myself and they fall into the following categories:
I thought it would be a good time to perhaps do the same with myself and so here I am.
I have determined some areas of improvement required in myself and they fall into the following categories:
- Physical Health
- Relational Health
- Vocational Health
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